Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray There are two dates in the cricketing calendar that Balconiers’ members await with a heightened sense of anticipation. The first, of course, involves the timing of the annual Swansea and West Wales Cricket Festival played at the historic St Helen's ground. The other is the date of the annual Presentation Dinner that has over the years attained an equally iconic status, giving the opportunity to celebrate the great game of cricket, to honour those Glamorgan players who have achieved career milestones in the course of the season and, just as importantly, to renew friendships and enjoy cricketing banter throughout the course of the evening. As usual, we were hosted excellently in 2014 by the Towers Hotel that has become the established venue for the event. Andrew Hignell, Glamorgan's accomplished scorer, statistician and archivist acted as MC for the evening, a role that he carried off with much aplomb. The atmosphere was electric - over 200 guests attended the evening. The Lord Mayor of Swansea, Councillor Ceinwen Thomas, presents the Gerry Munday Award to Chris Cooke ̶ the most improved, uncapped player of 2014 (All pictures credited to Huw Evans, Picture Agency) SHB Newsletter 1 Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray Mark Wallace receives a Special Award from Clive Hemp for being the first player for 38 years to play 200 consecutive Championship games We all appreciated the attendance of the Lord Mayor of Swansea Councillor Ceinwen Thomas, herself an enthusiastic cricket follower, who was welcomed by the Balconiers' Chairman, John Williams, who also welcomed other distinguished and noteworthy guests including Mark Wallace and the Glamorgan Players, Festival Sponsors, Members of the Swansea Council Management Team plus Councillor Ryland Doyle. He also welcomed Glamorgan CEO Hugh Morris and Deputy Chairman David Herbert Jnr plus members of the Swansea RFC Management Team and a whole host of enthusiastic, passionate Balconiers, drawn from across South Wales and further afield, including Manchester and Essex. It was particularly appropriate that Don Shepherd, Alan Jones and Billy Slade were present to represent the team that comprehensively defeated the 1964 Australian tourists. John Williams mentioned how pleased he was to record that the Balconiers had staged Presentation Dinners for the Glamorgan Players for the past 40- plus years. He added that the present 4-way partnership between the Balconiers, City of Swansea Council, Swansea RFC and Glamorgan CCC continued to flourish and was well cemented in the Swansea Annual Sporting Calendar. SHB Newsletter 2 Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray Premier League Awards The Awards included recognition of successes achieved by clubs in the South Wales Premier Cricket League. Paul Morgan, Chairman of the SWPCL, presented the League Awards. Greg Holmes receiving the SWPCL Championship Trophy 2014 from Paul Morgan on behalf of Cardiff CC The complete SWPCL Awards presented were as follows: 2014 League Champions Cardiff CC 2014 2nd X1 Champions Cardiff CC Fair Play Award ─ voted by the umpires Newport CC 2014 T20 Trophy Winners Port Talbot CC The remainder of the evening focused on the presentation of the Milestone Awards by both Glamorgan and the Balconiers - a summary of which follows. SHB Newsletter 3 Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray Mark Cox, the Port Talbot Skipper, receives the SWPCL T20 Trophy 2014 from Paul Morgan Glamorgan Awards Following the Starters course Andrew Hignell and Richard Almond announced the following Awards: Dewi Penrhyn-Jones The Alan Lang Award for the most promising Academy Player of the Year Connor Brown Academy Player of the Year Andrew Salter Young Player of the Year David Harrison Byron Denning Clubman of the Year Jim Allenby Twenty20 Player of the Year Jacques Rudolph Royal London One-Day Cup Player of the Year Chris Cooke LVCC Championship Player of the Year SHB Newsletter 4 Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray David Harrison receiving the Byron Denning Glamorgan Clubman of the Year Award, voted by the players, from Balconiers’ Secretary Allan Gray Geraint Davies, Harris Arnold Solicitors, presenting Jim Allenby with his Special Milestone Award SHB Newsletter 5 Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray Chris Cooke receiving the LVCC Player of the Year Award from Tony Dowrick, Finance Wales Balconiers’ Milestone Awards Following the Main course the Balconiers’ Milestones Awards were then presented to: David Lloyd Balconiers’ Glamorgan 2nd X1 Player of the Year 2014 Chris Cooke The Gerry Mundy Award for the most improved, uncapped player of the year and also recognising his maiden first-class century v Kent at Canterbury in September 2014 Jacques Rudolph To acknowledge his achievement of scoring the highest-ever one-day innings for Glamorgan at Hove in August 2014 (169*), breaking the record previously held by Viv Richards (162*) v Oxfordshire at St Helen’s in 1993 SHB Newsletter 6 Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray Dean Cosker For reaching his 100th Twenty20 game v Surrey at the Kia Oval in July 2014 Jim Allenby In recognition of becoming the second batsman in Glamorgan history to score a century in the Twenty20 competition, achieved by scoring 105 v Middlesex at Richmond in July 2014 Michael Hogan In recognition of his achievement in being the fastest ever to reach 100 first-class wickets in the fewest number of appearances (20) in the Club’s history at Bristol in July 2014 Mark Wallace For becoming the first cricketer for 38 years to appear in 200 consecutive Championship matches v Surrey at the Kia Oval in April 2014 ̶ the last Glamorgan player to reach this milestone was Haydn Davies in 1957 Dean Cosker receiving a Special Milestone Award from long-standing Balconiers’ member, Judith Davies SHB Newsletter 7 Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray Graham Wagg receiving his Special Milestone Award from Janet Robert- Thomas for his career-best bowling and batting performance in Season 2014 Graham Wagg In recognition of his career-best bowling figures (6/29) in Glamorgan’s second innings v Surrey at the Kia Oval in April 2014 (this being Glamorgan’s best-ever victory in Championship cricket at the Kia Oval) ̶ later in the season at Canterbury Graham scored a career-best of 116* Keiran Bull In recognition of his 4/62 from 25.3 overs being the best performance by a Glamorgan spinner on debut since 1921 Further Presentations Murray Goodwin, John Glover, Gareth Rees and Huw Waters received mementos as a Thank-You for their valuable contributions to Glamorgan CCC as they leave the club. Both the Club and the Balconiers wish them the very best in their future careers. SHB Newsletter 8 Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray Dylan Williams presenting Kieran Bull with a Special Milestone Award in recognition of being the best performance by a Glamorgan spinner on debut Iwan Davies, recently retired City and County of Swansea Head of Culture and Recreation, received a local print in recognition of his sterling work in partnership with the Balconiers to secure the future of county cricket at St Helen's. Three cheques were also presented in the course of the evening: Stephen Hedges, son of the late Bernard (who scored 17,733 runs over his 17 years for the County as a first-class player) was given a cheque for £300 in recognition of his walk of 1,000 miles around Wales in memory of his father while raising funds for the Chance to Shine ─ the funding that promotes cricket in Welsh schools; The Balconiers’ charity partner during the Festival was Prostate Cymru whose chairman and founder member, Andy Thomas, was presented with a cheque for £1,500 to supplement the bucket collections that the charity undertook during the Festival; SHB Newsletter 9 Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray Lastly, but certainly not least, the Balconiers’ Treasurer, Clive Hemp, presented a hefty cheque of £20,000 to Glamorgan’s Deputy Chairman, David Herbert Jnr, this being the latest in a series of annual donations to the County with the cumulative total now standing at a staggering £291,000+. Player of the Year Award The main, and much awaited, award of the evening was the Glamorgan and Balconiers’ Player of the Year accolade and the very worthy winner was Michael Hogan who again led Glamorgan's bowling attack with energy, commitment and no little success. Don Shepherd, a true Glamorgan legend and Balconiers’ President, presented Michael with his award. Michael Hogan receiving Balconiers’ Player of the Year 2014 trophies from Glamorgan legend and Balconiers’ President, David Shepherd Next Year Finally, a very brief word of advice. If you missed this year's event then do make sure you earmark Monday, 27th September 2015 (provisionally) in your diary at the earliest opportunity. You will not be disappointed! ■ SHB Newsletter 10 Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray John Sims, on behalf of the Balconiers, presents Iwan Davies, former City of Swansea Head of Culture and Recreation, with a print on his retirement Stephen Hedges receives a Balconiers £300 donation cheque, in memory of his father, from Glamorgan legend Alan Jones (his former opening partner) SHB Newsletter 11 Balconiers’ Players Presentation Dinner compiled by Allan Gray Balconiers’ Treasurer Clive Hemp presenting Glamorgan Deputy Chairman David Herbert with a handsome £20k donation cheque from the Balconiers Andy Thomas, Chairman of Prostate Cymru receives a charity cheque from Gareth Williams on behalf of the Balconiers SHB Newsletter 12 .